Everyone I know who's given birth in a MLU raves about it! The only thing is, don't get your heart set on it too much - many (most?) first-time mothers end up needing to be transferred, so be prepared for everything :-)

In my case I really wanted to and had a very low-risk pregnancy, but my waters broke before the contractions started, so I wasn't allowed to go to my MLU.

I had DD at a consultant led unit but will be going to a MLU this time. However the MLU is upstairs from the CLU. (The hospital DD was born in doesn't have a MLU). I wouldn't go for standalone MLU unless the transfer is short. But then I don't have a real choice of a standalone MLU because the closest one is further away from the two hospital I'm considering.

That said I was encouraged to have a home birth this time round. I think it is a bit strange given I had a ventouse birth last time. I think I might need it again but I'm happy to try the MLU because it is part of the same hospital. I'm hoping I wouldn't need the ventouse this time and many people rave about MLU. It is also a bigger and probably better hospital.

I had my dc3 in our MLU. It had only been open a few months and was amazing. I had my own room which was huge as it had a birthing pool in it and its own bathroom.

It was so much better then the hospital as once dc3 was born and I'd had a shower the MW said to let them know when we were ready to go and they'd get the paperwork sorted. I was the only one there at the time so they said we could have a sleep (2am delivery) or go home to our other DCs. We opted to go home and everything was sorted and we were back home by 6am, our older DCs didn't even know we'd left.

It was so nice not having to wait around for hours for the paperwork to be sorted so we could go home. Plus not being on a busy ward was so much better with no annoying relatives bumping their chair into the cot with my 8 hour old dc2 in.

To be fair dc4 was born on the new maternity ward as I was induced and the rooms in the labour ward were so much better than the old hospital, quite big and with their own bathroom The post natal ward was very busy though and I always want to go home ASAP so I hated waiting around till 2 or 3 in the afternoon for the paperwork.

Recovery in the mlu was lovely - it was dark at night and everyone whispered and tiptoed. And bf was the norm.

After that first night I had to go up to the postnatal ward with ds as his ab+ blood had mixed with my O- and he needed observation for a night.

Omg!! It was bright and loud and buzzing all night most of the other women needed help and regular painkillers so there were buzzers going and two of the other three had automatic blood pressure cuffs on that were so loud too. All were ffing (and I don't blame them one bit they were all recovering from major trauma)

I felt awful for those other women, guilty that I was feeling totally fine and like a bit of a weirdo for not taking any drugs and for bfing.

However, I was desperate for some calm and quiet and nearly going insane trying to snuggle my newborn and establish bf with skin to skin etc in what felt like a busy airport terminal or shopping mall!!!

If you are as lucky as I was with labour and birth then you really don't want to be in a hospital ward after.

all we have here is an MLU, or we have a huge huge upheaval of travel to get to a hospital with full facilities. had DS1 in consultant led as he had a heart condition picked up at scan, DD1 in mlu then DS2 and DD2 at home because I couldn't get to MLU for the weather.